The Chase (45 page)

D
oug
paced restlessly in the darkening woods across from the garage. With each passing minute, his sense of dread deepened. When McGraw had turned off the cell phone, cutting off their only line of communication, Doug had known the hope of getting Kendall and Albert out alive was greatly diminished.
If only he’d insisted on keeping the phone with him when he’d gone to the ambulance to let the rescue squad check him over. If he’d been the one to answer the call, rather than Lieutenant Mallory, he might have been able to make some kind of deal with McGraw
.

He glanced at the lieutenant, who stood a few yards in front of him, talking on his radio. The sound of a low voice crackling over the radio was almost drowned out by the noisy chorus of cricket frogs, katydids, and whippoorwills that signified the approach of nightfall. A screech owl sang from somewhere across the woods, its cry like the sound of a woman calling for help.

Doug looked around the group again for Jake, but he was nowhere to be seen. The lieutenant told him he hadn’t seen Jake since the chaos following the shooting. Doug wondered if Jake had gone off on his own, trying to find a way to rescue Kendall.

The shrill ring of his cell made him jump and his fingers trembled as he fumbled to flip it open. “Hello?”

“It’s Kendall, Doug.” Her voice was shaky. “Send the police inside. Hurry.”

“Hold on.” He turned to Lieutenant Mallory, who had rushed to his side at the sound of the ring. “It’s Kendall. She says to send your men in.”

The lieutenant took off at a jog, talking into his radio, and Doug lifted the phone back to his mouth. “Are you all right?”

“Yes, we’re okay. Jake’s in here. He has a gun on them.” Her voice broke.

“Okay, Kendall. Just hold tight. The police are on the way in.”

He flipped the phone shut and caught up with the lieutenant, who motioned him back as the SERT team broke through the door to the garage and stormed into the building. Lieutenant Mallory kept his radio to his ear and after a few moments nodded at Doug and waved him forward. Once inside, Doug stood for an instant, allowing his eyes to adjust to the bright lights.

The SERT team had the bus surrounded and Doug could see several armed men aboard the bus. Doug waited with Lieutenant Mallory as a tall, angry-looking man in handcuffs was led down the stairs.

“That’s Earl Davis,” the lieutenant said to Doug, stepping towards the man.

A blond woman with a tear-streaked face followed him out, flanked by two deputies. Zelda, Doug presumed. He felt himself tense, expecting McGraw to be next.

But it wasn’t McGraw.

Kendall appeared in the doorway, with Jake right behind her. As they stepped off the bus, Jake spoke close to her ear and wrapped his arms protectively around her.

Doug walked forward to meet them and Kendall gave him a weak smile. “Hi.”

He returned her smile. “You okay?”

She nodded and rested her head against Jake’s shoulder. “What about you? I saw you go down when McGraw fired.”

Doug instinctively raised a hand to the painful spot in the center of his chest. “I’m okay.”

He looked at the bus again and saw an elderly man with a swollen eye descend the stairs, followed by a couple of deputies. No one else. Doug craned his neck to see through the bus window. The bus appeared to be empty.

He frowned and turned to Jake. “Where’s McGraw?”

Jake gave a backward glance towards the other side of the garage. “Over there.”

“Is he …”

“Alive?” Jake finished the question for him. “I’m not sure. I didn’t hang around to find out. I hit him over the head with a shovel and he went down like a rock.”

Doug heard the sound of running footsteps. A deputy rounded the corner of the bus and rushed towards them, his weapon drawn.

“
Lieutenant,”
the deputy said, breathlessly. “McGraw’s gone.”

Z
eb flattened himself against the exterior wall of the garage and watched from the shadows as a cop passed by on the gravel drive. The cop stopped beneath the floodlight at the end of the building and lit a cigarette, then turned and headed back towards Zeb.

Full darkness had settled over the farm, giving Zeb the advantage. All he had to do was make it across the drive to the drainage pipe he had spotted when he’d scouted out the farm. Then he’d be home free. From there, he could crawl through the pipe to the back pasture, where the truck was waiting.
He just had to make it to the pipe
.

The cop neared the edge of the arc from the floodlight and reached for the flashlight attached to his belt. He turned it on, aiming the beam in front of him.

Zeb sucked in a short breath.
Shit
. The cop was no more than thirty feet away. Any minute now, the beam from the flashlight would reach where he was standing. Zeb dropped swiftly to his knees and quietly stretched out on his belly along the edge of the building, thankful that Zelda had bought him the black Goth shirt. As the cop neared, Zeb closed his eyes and turned his face into the grass.

Gravel crunched under the cop’s feet.
Crunch. Crunch
. His steps were slow. Steady.
Crunch. Crunch
. Louder then. Almost even with him.
Crunch. Crunch
. The cop was right next to him. Zeb held his breath. Waiting for the cop to pass.
The footsteps stopped
.

Zeb tensed, ready to roll over and kick as soon as he sensed the cop was close enough. He waited. The cop didn’t move. Zeb was forced to take a shallow breath, and the smell of cigarette smoke hung in the air. He heard the cop exhale loudly, and then the footsteps sounded again. Slowly.
Crunch. Crunch
. Going away from him.

Zeb waited and counted ten steps before he lifted his head. The cop was halfway to the end of the building. He rolled onto his side and crept slowly to his knees. As soon as the cop rounded the corner, he’d make a run for it.
Just a few more steps
.

The cop’s radio squawked, and the cop stopped and put his hand on the radio. A man’s voice laced with static screeched over the radio. Zeb couldn’t make out what the voice was saying, but the cop drew his gun from the holster. He looked in Zeb’s direction, then turned back and jogged around the corner of the garage.

Zeb leapt to his feet and sprinted across the drive, diving into the bushes just as he heard the pounding of footsteps on the gravel drive. He crawled towards the opening to the drainpipe and crept inside, cringing as his shoes made a clanging noise against the corrugated metal. He inched his way along the pipe at first, careful not to make too much noise. But once he figured he was far enough from the entrance for anyone to hear him, he raised himself on all fours and scrambled towards the truck.

A
nne closed her eyes and bent her head forward, stretching her neck from side to side to let the jet of warm water massage her tight muscles. After a moment, she reached for the shampoo bottle, squeezed the thick liquid onto her hair, and worked it into a lather. The soothing aroma of green tea and ginger drifted over her, and she inhaled deeply, feeling some of her tension ease.

It’s almost over
, she told herself.
Doug’s okay, and the children are safe
. They only had to rescue Kendall and Albert and the nightmare would be over.

She ducked her head under the stream of water and rinsed her hair until it squeaked, then reached for the tube of conditioner and squeezed until a small glob squirted into her hand. Anne slowly massaged the conditioner into her scalp and ran her fingers through her hair to untangle the snarls.

The phone rang just as she finished rinsing off.
Maybe that was Doug with news about Kendall
. She quickly turned off the water and reached out for a towel. As she wrapped the towel around her, she stepped from the shower and grabbed the cordless handset she’d left on the vanity.

“Hello?” She grabbed another towel and pressed it to her hair.

“I was beginning to get worried. What took you so long to answer?” Doug asked.

“I was in the shower. Is there any news about Kendall?”

“She’s safe.”

“Thank God.” Anne felt a flood of relief. “What about McGraw and the rest of them?”

Doug paused. “McGraw got away.”

Anne sank onto the vanity bench. “What happened?”

“Jake knocked McGraw out, but by the time the authorities got inside, McGraw had regained consciousness and escaped.”

“How far could he have gone? Didn’t they have the place surrounded?”

“Yes, but there’s a large drainage pipe right next to the garage. They think McGraw crawled through that and escaped through the back of the farm.”

“Have they gone door-to-door and alerted the neighboring farm owners?” Anne asked.

“They’re doing that now. But they doubt McGraw’s still in the area. Apparently, he had a truck parked in the field at the back of the farm, and they think he escaped in that.”

Anne clasped the towel tighter to her chest. “Where are you right now?”

“I’m getting in the car to drive home.”

“Don’t stop anywhere, Doug. Come right home. Please.”

“I’m not stopping.”

“Okay, please hurry. I love you.”

“I love you, too. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

Anne placed the phone on the vanity and could hear the Disney Channel blaring from their bedroom, where Samantha was watching TV in bed. She dressed quickly and ran a brush through her hair, then headed to her bedroom closet for a pair of shoes.

When Anne entered the bedroom, she walked to the television set and lowered the volume. “Honey, that’s way too loud.”

She turned towards Samantha, but the bed was empty.

Anne looked around the room. “Samantha?”

No answer
.

“Samantha?” She flung open the bedroom door and crossed the hallway to Samantha’s room.

Samantha wasn’t there
.

“Samantha! Where are you?” she shouted, descending the stairs and racing to the kitchen.

Silence
.

The kitchen was deserted and Anne ran back down the hall towards the front of the house. She rushed past Doug’s study to the parlor, where Samantha loved to play with her toy horses in the cabinet under the front window. The room was dark, and Anne’s hand trembled as she fumbled along the wall for the light switch.

Light flooded the empty room
.

“Oh God, Samantha, where are you?” she whispered, backing into the hall and turning towards Doug’s study.

“Mommy?”

Anne whirled around and saw Samantha standing in the darkened doorway of the living room, her stuffed pony in her arms. Anne stumbled across the hall and dropped to her knees, throwing her arms around Samantha.

“
What are you doing down here?”

“I couldn’t find Blackie and then I remembered that I left him down here this afternoon when Ben was reading me a book. So I came down to get him.” Samantha struggled to get out of Anne’s arms. “Ow, Mommy, you’re hurting me.”

Anne released her grasp on Samantha and sat back on her heels. “Samantha, you scared me because I didn’t know where you were.
Don’t ever do that to Mommy again
. When I’m in the shower and I ask you to stay someplace, I don’t want you to go somewhere else. Okay?”

“Okay,” Samantha said quietly. “Please don’t be mad at me.”

“I’m not mad at you, honey. I was just scared.” Anne struggled to her feet and held out her hand. “Come on. Let’s take Blackie upstairs.”

Samantha slid her hand into Anne’s. As they reached the staircase, Anne heard the distant sound of Rascal barking. She stopped and frowned. “I wonder what Rascal’s barking at?”

Samantha shrugged. “I don’t know, Mommy. Ben said that when he walked Rascal earlier today, all Rascal wanted to do was chase squirrels and wasn’t very interested in pooping.”

Anne smiled tensely. “He must be barking at a squirrel, then.”

They climbed the stairs and Anne tucked Samantha back in bed. “Daddy’s on his way home, so you can stay in our bed until he gets here.”

Samantha yawned. “Okay, Mommy. I sure hope Charly gets home soon with the Tylenol. My head hurts.”